Wakeman, Rick - Themes


Year of Release: 1998
Label: President Records
Catalog Number: RWCD32
Format: CD
Total Time: 50:24:00

On the 18th May, 2000, Rick Wakeman turned 51 but you'll certainly not notice it where finger speed is concerned. From the time Wakeman went to live on the Isle of Man, sadly most of his albums sound alike, which mainly has to do with his use of Korg and Kurzweil keyboards and the drum programming of Stuart Sawney. From the first note of "Fanfare," the album Themes sounds very Wakeman-ish, yet the interesting flavour that he added to his music in the seventies seems to have gone. The Wakeman trademark now has to be found in the simple, pure classical pieces like "Nothing Left To Say" which he plays on piano only and still holds all of the Wakeman characteristics, a little bit in the style of "After The Ball." Yet Rick wouldn't be Rick if he wouldn't offer us many different styles on one single album. So we get "Latin Cycle" which is the kind of muzak you might end up hearing in a shopping mall. This is by all means very different from the previous track. "Ambient Loop" is a very contemporary song where a repetitive "loop" is accompanied by nice guitar parts.

At last the well-known Moog sounds come to us in the uptempo "Section Seven." Rick is at his best during the acoustic passages where he can also introduce some bombastic orchestral splendour such as in "Hall Of Fame." Ordinary pop and the still unconvincing voice of Chrissie Hammond (probably given free with the purchase of an organ of the same name!) typecast "On Our Way." Then again "Forever And Ever" is the kind of music you'd wish to find all over this album: bombastic, classical, majestic with little means. The album ends with the long "Freefall" that has the drum machine take away all the class of the song. A real drummer would certainly improve the end result of Themes. However this album once again illustrates the many talents of Rick Wakeman and those of guitarist Fraser Thorneycroft-Smith. Themes could well be seen as the Rhapsodies of the end of the century.


Tracklisting:
Fanfare (4:30) / Bassolla (4:30) / Nothing Left To Say (2:16) / Latin Cycle (5:06) / Ambient Loop (6:22) / Without Love (4:) / Section Seven (3:40) / Hall Of Fame (3:37) / On Our Way (3:47) / Forever And Ever (4:43) / Freefall (9:13)

Musicians:
Rick Wakeman - all keyboards, synth bass
Fraser Thorneycroft-Smith - guitars, vocals
Brad Wiseman - bass
Phil Laughlin - bass
Chrissie Hammond - vocals
Stuart Sawney - percussion programming

Discography:
Piano Vibrations (1971)
The Six Wives Of Henry VIII (1973)
Journey To The Centre Of The Earth (1974)
Lisztomania (1975)
The Myths & Legends Of King Arthur & The Knights Of The Round Table (1975)
No Earthly Connection (1976)
Rick Wakeman's Criminal Record (1977)
White Rock (1977)
Animal Showdown (1979)
Rhapsodies (1979)
I'm So Straight I'm A Weirdo (1980)
1984 (1981)
The Burning (OST) (1981)
Rock N Roll Prophet (1982)
Cost Of Living (1983)
G'ole! (1983)
Crimes Of Passion (OST) (1984)
Live At Hammersmith (1985)
Lytton's Diary (1985)
Silent Nights (1985)
Country Airs (1986)
The Family Album (1987)
The Gospels (1987)
20th Anniversary Limited Edition (1988)
A Suite Of Gods (1988)
Custer's Last Stand/Ocean City (1988)
Time Machine (1988)
Zodiaque (1988)
Black Knights At The Court Of Ferdinand IV (1989)
Sea Airs (1989)
Phantom Power (1990)
In The Beginning (1990)
Night Airs (1990)
Phantom Power (1990)
2000AD Into The Future (1991)
African Bach (1991)
Aspirant Sunrise (1991)
Aspirant Sunset (1991)
Aspirant Sunshadows (1991)
Rock N Roll Prophet Plus (1991)
Softsword (1991)
The Classical Connection (1991)
Best Works Collection (1992)
Country Airs (1992)
Classic Tracks (1993)
No Expense Spared (1993)
Prayers (1993)
The Classical Connection 2 (1993)
The Heritage Suite (1993)
Unleashing The Tethered One - The 1974 North American Tour (1993)
Wakeman With Wakeman (1993)
Light Up The Sky (1994)
Live On The Test (1994)
Lure Of The Wild (1994)
Rick Wakeman's Greatest Hits (1994)
The Stage Collection (1994)
Wakeman With Wakeman - The Official Bootleg (1994)
Wakeman With Wakeman Live (1994)
Almost Live In Europe (1995)
Cirque Surreal (1995)
Rick Wakeman In Concert (1995)
Rock & Pop Legends (1995)
Romance Of The Victorian Age (1995)
The Piano Album (1995)
The Private Collection (1995)
The Seven Wonders Of The World (1995)
Visions (1995)
Can You Hear Me? (1996)
Fields Of Green (1996)
Orisons (1996)
Tapestries (1996)
The New Gospels (1996)
The Word And Music (1996)
Vignettes (1996)
Voyage (1996)
Welcome A Star (1996)
Fields Of Green '97 (1997)
Simply Acoustic - The Music (1997)
Tribute (1997)
Master Series (1998)
Themes (1998)
Official Live Bootleg (1999)
Return To The Centre Of The Earth (1999)
Stella Bianca Alla Corte De Re Ferdinando (1999)
The Masters (1999)
The Natural World Trilogy (1999)
White Rock II (1999)
Christmas Variations (2000)
Chronicles Of Man (2000)
Morning Has Broken (2000)
Preludes To A Century (2000)
Recollections - The Very Best Of Rick Wakeman (2000)
Rick Wakeman The Legend Live In Concert 2000 (2000)
The Caped Collection (2000)
Classical Variations (2001/2002)
Simply Acoustic (2001)
Out Of The Blue (2001)
Two Sides Of Yes (2001/2002)
Treasure Chest Volume 1 - The Real Lizstomania (2002)
Treasure Chest Volume 2 - The Oscar Concert (2002)
Treasure Chest Volume 3 - The Missing Half (2002)
Treasure Chest Volume 4 - Almost Classical (2002)
Treasure Chest Volume 5 - The Mixture (2002)
Treasure Chest Volume 6 - Medium Rare (2002)
Treasure Chest Volume 7 - Journey To The Centre Of The Earth (2002)
Treasure Chest Volume 8 - Stories (2002)
Two Sides Of Yes - Volume II (2002)
Wakeman & Cousins -Hummingbird (2002)
Out There (2003)
Retro (2006)
Retro 2 (2007)
The Six Wives Of Henry VIII Live At Hampton Court Palace (2009)
Always With You (2010)
Past, Present, and Future (2010)
Anderson/Wakeman - The Living Tree (2010)
In The Nick Of Time-Live In 2003 (2012)
Journey To The Centre Of The Earth 2012 (2012)
The Myths & Legends Of King Arthur & The Knigts Of The Round Table 2016 (2016)
Piano Portraits (2017)
The Phantom Of The Opera (2017)

Piano Odyssey (2018)
Christmas Portraits (2019)
Official Bootleg Series - Boston USA 1974 (2019) Official Bootleg Series - Osaka Japan 1975 (2019) Official Bootleg Series - Sheffield UK 1981 (2019) Official Bootleg Series - Vienna Austria 1976 (2019) Official Bootleg Series - Preston UK 1981 (2019) Official Bootleg Series - Tokyo Japan 2008 (2019) Official Bootleg Series - Cropredy UK 2010 (2019) Official Bootleg Series - Osaka Japan 2014 (2019) Official Bootleg Series - Tokyo Japan 2014 (2019) Official Bootleg Series - Daphne Du Maurier Festival UK 2001 (2019)

The Classical Connection (VHS) (1991)
The Very Best Of The Rick Wakeman Chronicles (VHS) (1994)
Simply Acoustic (VHS) (1996)
The New Gospels (VHS) (1996)
The Piano Tour Live (VHS) (1997)
Rick Wakeman Live (VHS) (1998)
An Evening WIth Rick Wakeman (VHS) (2000)
Rick Wakeman Live In Concert 2000 (DVD) (2000/2002)
Journey To The Center Of The Earth Live In 1975 (DVD) (2001/2002)
Rick Wakeman & The English Rock Ensemble - Live In Buenos Aires (DVD) (2001/2002)
Rick Wakeman & The English Rock Ensemble - Out There (DVD) (2004)
Journey To The Centre Of The Earth Live In 1975 - 30th Anniversary Edition (DVD) (2005)
Made In Cuba (DVD) (2005)
Amazing Grace (DVD) (2007)
The Other Side Of Rick Wakeman (DVD) (2007)
Video Vault Volume 1 - 1975 Live At Empire Pool, King Arthur On Ice (DVD) (2007)
Video Vault Volume 2 - Live At The Maltings 1976 (DVD) (2007)
Video Vault Volume 3 - Live 1980 Swedish Television Special (DVD) (2007)
Video Vault Volume 4 - 1984 Live At The Hammersmith Odeon 1981 (DVD) (2007)
Video Vault Volume 5 - Night Music (DVD) (2007)
Video Vault Volume 6 - Rarities Plus Interview (DVD) (2007)
The Six Wives Of Henry VIII Live At Hampton Court Palace (DVD/BR) (2009)
Classical Wakeman Volume 1 - Live In Lugano (DVD) (2010)
Starmus (DVD) (2017)
Live Portriats At Lincoln Cathedral (DVD) (2018)

Genre: Other

Origin UK

Added: May 28th 2000
Reviewer: John "Bobo" Bollenberg

Artist website: www.rwcc.com
Hits: 3291
Language: english

  

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